In fact, many, many years ago,
before it was very common for black folks to attend any of
the congregations where white folks were, I had a friend who
had a black lady in his congregation named Juanita. And as you know,
black folks are a little bit more rowdy in their public worship
services than we commonly are. And she wanted to say amen and
talk back to the preacher, and he just finally convinced her
Not to do that. You have to be quiet. Women have
to keep quiet in the services. Don't talk during services. He
was preaching one time. And he just got to preaching
on the fullness of Christ's glory and grace. And he looked up.
She was sitting back in the back. Right in the fringe of your waist,
I think. That's kind of the way I felt
when I heard that song. Thank you so much. Christ is all. Well, I don't have to tell you
how dear this congregation is to me. You've been precious to
me for many years. God's allowed me to be part of
you from the beginning. When you asked me to help you
until you got a pastor, the first man who came to my mind, I didn't
tell him and I didn't tell you, was Brother Chris Cunningham.
And God put him on your heart. It's just been a good marriage,
and I'm so thankful you're here. And so very, very, very thankful
to see what you've done here. Well, enough of that. Let's get
to the book. Relations, chapter 3. There are two verses of scripture that
are on my heart and mind almost incessantly. Two verses that reveal sweet
gospel wonders. Wonders of God's amazing grace
that grow more wondrous day by day. They declare mysteries so
deep, so profound, so wondrous that I have no hope of ever comprehending
them. I quote these two verses frequently,
more frequently than any two. In fact, I don't think I have
preached a message in, oh, at least 30 years. But what I didn't
quote one of them, if not both of them, in the message. I do
so purposefully, deliberately. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And Galatians chapter 3 verse
13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. Now, I have no idea how many
times I have preached messages from 2 Corinthians 5.21. Dozens and dozens of messages. But I was astonished, really,
when I started preparing this message, I looked back over the
records I keep, to find out that I'd only preached from Galatians
3.13 twice in 40 years of preaching. Just twice. Galatians 3, 13 and 14 in my
text tonight. My subject, Cursed, Redeemed,
Blessed. My outline, Cursed, Redeemed,
Blessed. Now if you can remember three
words, you got it all. Cursed, Redeemed, Blessed. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us for it is written
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree that the blessing of
Abraham now notice the verse doesn't stop with a sentence
period but rather verse 13 ends with this semicolon the sentence
goes on Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law for this
purpose. That the blessing of Abraham,
the blessing that God promised Abraham back in Genesis chapter
15, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ. What does that mean? That we
might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now
here the Spirit of God declares that God's elect are described
in three states by which they are all identified. They are
cursed, they're redeemed, and they're blessed. The law of God
is set before us in this chapter, as it is in chapter two, as that
which cannot save. The law cannot make one righteous. The law cannot give life. The
law cannot sanctify. The law cannot justify. The law cannot bless. The law
of God is holy, just, and good, but it cannot produce any holiness,
it cannot produce any justice, and it cannot produce any good
in you or in me. The law of God is a ministration
of death. It exposes sin. It declares guilt. It curses. It condemns the guilty.
It ministers death, nothing else. It genders bondage, never liberty. It condemns, but it never blesses. It imprisons, but it never sets
free. The law genders bondage and death. And all ministries that emphasize
the law All ministries that emphasize the law, gender bondage and death,
nothing else. Sinai has the thunder and the
terror of the Almighty, but no good news. But blessed be His
holy name. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. Here's the first thing. Our text
speaks of God's elect, as we were by nature when we were found
by his grace as a people under the curse of the law. Brother
Don, I don't believe there's ever a time when believers are
under the curse of the law. Well, you better look again.
You better look again. We were delivered from the curse
as far as the purpose of God is concerned and the grace of
God in eternity. We were redeemed from eternity.
But we were born children of wrath just like everybody else
and lived all our days cursed and condemned in our consciences,
in our minds, and in our hearts because we had no faith in Jesus
Christ. The law of God pronounces men
cursed without the faith. This is the state of nature.
It is the condition of all Adam's race by nature. The curse of
God's law is God's sentence of judgment upon us. It's the utterance
of God's anger. God Almighty speaks in accordance
with His law. He always does. in wrath and
in grace. God speaks according to his law. The curse of the law is God's
curse. It proclaims the curse upon the
guilty. It is written in the law. Ezekiel
18, 20, I believe it is. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. We read here in this third chapter
of Galatians in verse 10. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Cursed is everyone that does not continue in all things
written in the book of the law. Now, I know the legalists try
their best to figure out a way to twist the scriptures to suit
them, and they'll tell you that this is talking about the Ten
Commandments. You go find the place in Deuteronomy where this
is quoted from and read it. Cursed is everyone who does not
do everything God commanded at Sinai, and that includes the
civil law, And the moral law, and the ceremonial law, and the
dietary law, it includes the whole law. You've either got
to keep it all, or you broke it all. You either keep it all,
or you're condemned by it all. It is written in the law, the
soul that sinneth, it shall die. Now if you're holy, I don't mean
if you're sort of holy. I mean if you're holy. Perfectly
holy. perfectly holy, without sin,
with no deviation in mind, in heart, or in deed, from the will
of God, and the character of God, and the revelation of God,
then the law has nothing to say to you. And you have no reason
to fear the law. The law speaks nothing against
you. But since there are none who
are holy, perfectly holy, none who do not rebel against the
will of God, none who have not violated every precept of God,
there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and
sinneth not. Then the book of God declares
that all of us, by nature, are under the curse of the law. Listen
to this. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. And if you don't have everlasting
life, because you do not believe on the Son of God, it is written,
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him. Now hear me, some of you here
are without Christ. Oh my soul, what a statement.
Without Christ, without life, without faith,
the wrath of God is on you. The wrath that burns the fires
of hell, whatever they are, is on you. That very same wrath
that Judas has been enduring for 2,000 years is on you. It abideth on you. Oh, may God
give you ears to hear the message of his grace and faith to believe
his son. How can that be? It is written,
wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin, and so death passed upon all men, because all have sinned. We all sinned in our father Adam,
and we all came forth from our mother's womb with our fists
shoved in God's face, speaking lies, and we spent all our days
speaking lies, rebels against God, hating God with every fiber
of our beings. That's the nature of man. That's
the nature of your children and mine. That's the nature of mankind. Because we're born sinners, Paul
describes us in Ephesians 2, 4 as children of wrath. Wrathful
children. What's that mean? Children of
God, yes we were adopted, chosen in Christ from eternity, and
yet conscious of guilt. with a conscience that constantly
said, guilty, guilty, guilty. You see, if I can illustrate
it for you. And I don't, I'm not interested in talking to
you about politics. Well, I'm a little interested,
but I won't do it tonight. But the illustration serves my
purposes. I was watching the fellow's own
Fox News the other night. Krothheimer, Charles Krothheimer,
a pretty sharp fellow. And I don't think he has any
sympathy for the gospel. But he's a pretty sharp fellow.
And somebody was asking why the women in our society, the liberated
women as they call themselves, are so vicious with Sarah Palin. Why? He said it's a guilty conscience. He said the fact that this 42-year-old
woman, knowing she was about to give birth to a child with
Down syndrome, chose to give birth to the child and raise
the child rather than abort the child, she did that which they
know is right and that which they know is magnanimous and
good and what they know they would never do and they can't
stand it. It's called guilt. It's called
guilt. Romans chapter 1. God, the Holy
Spirit in creation, stamped his law on your conscience. And you
hold the truth of God in unrighteousness. You hold it down. You suppress
it. You keep it pushed down. God,
shut up! I don't want to hear that. I won't hear it. I won't hear
it. Sunshine no more! I won't hear it. Shut up. Oh, but from some folks, God
Almighty breaks the hold and causes your conscience to scream,
guilty, guilty, guilty, and you can't silence your conscience.
Nothing can, nothing can, except the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son. Man by nature is cursed. And oh, I pray that God will
make you to know your curse before Him tonight. The cause of sin,
the curse of the law, the curse of God's justice is upon us. And justice is blind. Our Statue of Liberty got blindfolds
on to show that justice is blind. Sadly, that's not the case in
our society. But I'm telling you, God's justice
is blind. It shows no pity. It extends
no mercy. It has no compassion. Gives no
consideration to age or circumstance or ignorance or learning. The
law simply says, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The wages
of sin is death. Surely thou shalt surely die. What death? What is this death?
This death that God's law threatens. This death that has passed upon
all men because all have sinned. It is a death that involves the
furious wrath of God. Have you ever been in the presence
of a man who was furious. I mean furious. I don't care
who you are, I don't care how big you are, you were scared
of it. You're standing before God Almighty
who's furious. Furious, justly furious. This death involves shame and
bondage, it's darkness and unrest inside. It's a death that shuts
out, that prevents acceptance, that is unacceptable, makes us
unacceptable. It's a death that makes men unwanted. Death is banishment. It's exile. It's deprivation
of good, of happiness, of life. The death the law demands. And
the death the law declares to be our rightful and just wage
is a death suffered by men at the hands of God. It's called
spiritual death. When Adam died, we died in him
and we were born dead in trespasses and in sins. It brings about
temporal death so that In time we get sick and we die. These bodies go to the grave
where they lie until the resurrection. And it finally consummates in
eternal death. What the Spirit of God calls
the second death. What is hell? It is everlasting
separation from God. and the everlasting experience
of his furious wrath. Oh God save you from his wrath. Look at the next line. The Holy
Spirit declares that God's elect are in a state of redemption. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse. All that I've talked about, and
I've just touched the edges. I've said all I can about the
curse. Oh, the horrible curse. Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law. Our Redeemer is Christ
Himself, appointed and called to the work by His Father, but
a voluntary Redeemer, one who agreed to become our Redeemer
because, just because of His great love for us. He is that
one of whom the prophets spoke continually in the Old Testament,
that one who was to come into the world. And in the fullness
of time, He came. He came here In human flesh,
the Word was made flesh, dwelt among us. We tend to want to qualify things. You know, we read our theologians
and read our books on theology and our doctrine books and our
creeds. And us preachers, I'm talking about, we like to get
things stated right. Scared to death, Donnie Bell might not
understand if I say it wrong. So I want to get that thing sliced
just right, you know. The Word wasn't really made flesh.
God didn't really become a man. I beg your pardon. God became
what we are. Amazing. Never ceased to be God. He became what we are. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us for one purpose. That's the
only way He could be our Redeemer. Leviticus 25, 25 speaks of a
kinsman Redeemer. You read Leviticus 25, 25 and
then read Hebrews chapter 2 and you find out what Leviticus 25,
25 is all about. It became him. It behooved him. It was necessary for him. If
he would be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God, if he would save his people from their sins, it was
necessary for him to become what we were. And so the Lord Jesus
Christ came in here in our nature that he might save his people
from their sins. Christ hath redeemed us. Now,
I've been preaching to our folks at home on Sunday nights for
the last five, six, seven weeks on redemption. I've been preaching
particularly about particular redemption. And I've been preaching
distinctly about limited atonement. Because this is the most, most
vital issue of gospel revelation. And this is the place where Satan
sets his assault in every generation. And ours is no different. Men
compromise the gospel of God's grace. who professed believing. And they begin to compromise,
not with the character of God, not with the depravity of man,
not with anything else, but with redemption. And try to make some
sense in which Christ sort of maybe, sort of did something
for everybody, and not anything real distinct or particular or
effectual for anybody. Christ hath redeemed us. I take that to mean He didn't
redeem everybody. He hath redeemed us. Not He tried to redeem us. Not He made redemption possible
for us. Not He provided redemption for
us. D, He redeemed us. When the Son of God died at Calvary,
He actually did redeem somebody. God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation. Who did He redeem? He redeemed
God's elect. I don't know why that's so hard
for folks to get hold of. He said, I laid down my life for
the sheep. And I know folks say, well, there's a sense in which
God loves everybody. Why don't you try proclaiming
that to Noah's generation? Go ask them about how much God
loved them. If God loves everybody, he's got a mighty strange way
of showing it. That's exactly right. And his love is useless
and meaningless. No, no. Christ redeemed those
people for whom he prays. is I pray not for the world,
but for them which Thou hast given Me, for they were Thine.
Christ redeemed those the Father gave Him to redeem, those who
in time believe on Him, to whom it is given to receive Him and
to believe Him. We were lost, we were cursed,
we were under the sentence of the law, Christ redeemed us,
that is, He paid for us. No, that's not it. That's not
it. Christ redeemed us. That means
he paid the price of our redemption. No, that's not it. Christ redeemed
us. That means he bought us out and
brought us out and delivered us out from the curse of the
law. He redeemed us, He delivered
us by the lawful payment of a price. A price demanded by the law. He redeemed us as our penal sacrifice
and substitute before God Almighty. How did our Savior redeem us? He was made a curse for us. He was made to be sin. the cursed
thing. And being made sin for us, he
was made a curse for us. I want you to turn back to Deuteronomy
21. Deuteronomy chapter 21. We were under the curse. Christ was made the curse. It
is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Deuteronomy
chapter 21. Verse 22. I want you to see this for yourself. And if a man have committed a
sin worthy of death. Now this is the place Paul is
quoting here. He's quoting in Galatians 3.13 Deuteronomy chapter
21 verse 23. If a man has committed a sin
worthy of death, that is he's guilty of a capital crime, something
worthy to be put to death. Now the Lord just talked to the
children of Israel about stoning them. And then he gives another
law. A law that is altogether a prophecy. A law of which there is no record
of the children of Israel ever doing it in their entire history.
Not ancient history or present history. No record of it. If
a man had committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death,
and thou shalt hang him on a tree." The Jews didn't kill anybody
by hanging. Never in their history. Never
in their history. They delivered our Lord Jesus
over to the Romans to fulfill this text. They delivered him
to the Gentiles to fulfill this prophecy. They hang him on a
tree. His body shall not remain all
night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that
day. For he that is hanged is accursed
of God." Does that mean that every man
who died by hanging Is cursed did God? No. A lot of our brethren
in times of persecution had been hanged on trees and burned at
the stake. Lots of Christians were nailed to the tree just
as our Lord was hanged on a tree and crucified by the Romans.
No, it doesn't mean that everybody's cursed who hangs on a tree. But
there is one man who when he's made sin is made a curse. And God says he that is hanged
on the tree is accursed. God made him sin, the cursed
thing, and made him to be the curse. How do you explain that? I bow
down and worship him who hanged on the tree. Just that simple. Back to our text. The word redeemed, as I said,
means deliverance. It has the idea of the deliverance
of a captive by a lawful price of ransom. Let's think about
this deliverance. Christ delivered us from all
to which the curse subjected us, present and future. physical and spiritual, temporal
and eternal. He bare our sins in his body
on the tree. You know what else he bare? He
bare our sicknesses. You mean, you believe he delivered
us from sickness? He sure did. So that it's not
a curse, it's a blessing. And it doesn't lead to death.
It leads to life. He's redeemed us from all that
is involved in the curse. So that now, for we who are redeemed
by His blood, there is no cursing thing. There shall no evil happen to
the just. That's the name of the book,
isn't it, Donny? There shall no evil happen to the just. That
means, Pastor, Everything He does for you. Everything He does for you. You got that? You got that? He's
delivered us from bondage and exile, from imprisonment and
shame, from misery and darkness, from war and death. He's delivered
us from wrath and from hell. And His deliverance is as complete
as it is free. Our blessed Savior delivered
us by a just and lawful payment. There was a heavy price on our
souls. A price that must be paid or
deliverance is impossible. And the Lord God looked on His
Son and He said, deliver Him, speaking of all who are in His
Son, from going down to the pit I have found a ransom. Redemption
is deliverance by our substitute. Turn back a couple of pages to
Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 6, or verse 7 rather. In
Christ we have redemption through his blood. What is that? The forgiveness of sins. according
to the riches of His grace. Our Savior coined the ransom
money out of His own person. He took our place. He took our
guilt. He endured our curse. The Son
of God stood before the law in our place as the offender, as
the guilty one. And the curse that was due us
fell on Him as His curse. when He was made sin for us,
the curse that was ours fell on Him because our sin was made
His. He died the just for the unjust
that He might bring us to God. He died the blessed one for the
cursed, the holy for the unholy. He took the curse, the sword
of God's justice into His own holy soul and swallowed up the
curse. So that he says, my fury, it
sustained me in the day of the vengeance of God. What can be
blessed about that? That's the day God's vengeance
is satisfied. And now he says, fury is not
in me. Imagine that. No fury in God
for you. No anger. No wrath. No vengeance, no curse, no reason. Now God, recall Pastor Fred,
he took away our sin. And where there's no sin, there's
no curse. Where there's no guilt, there's
no condemnation. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law as our justice satisfying penal substitute. If we would be saved, we must
be saved by His blood. For without the shedding of blood
is no remission of sins. But blessed be God, we are indeed
saved by His blood. He did it. We don't come to sinners
declaring to sinners that there's a possibility of redemption,
if you will pretty please do something. No, no, we've got
good news to preach. I've come down here tonight to
tell you, redemption is done. Redemption is done. It's done. Pastor, how can I have that? You just listen and I'll tell
you. I'll tell you. The cross of Christ opens the
prison door, takes away the bars of death, and delivers sinners
from hell. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. Now watch what it says here.
that we might receive the promise of the blessing of Abraham, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit. For you, if God's given me your ear, if
God's got your attention, you're sitting here under the curse
Terrified of God? Listen now. Look up here. Look here. Look
at this man right here. Listen right here. You're looking
at a man blessed. Blessed of God. Blessed with
the blessing that God promised Abraham. The gift of his spirit. The promise of the spirit. Now
look at the words, the last two words in the text. Through faith. Does that mean that we, by the
might and power of our faith, make Christ's blood effectual
to ourselves and now he's our redeemer? No. That means that
because Christ redeemed us, God gives his spirit to us. And believing
Him, we receive life everlasting. The promise of the Spirit. The
word receive, it's a very strong word. It means take. Just reach out and grab it. Just
take hold of it. Lay hold on eternal life. How does a man do that? If you
can, you will. And I promise you something,
every sinner redeemed by his blood will receive his spirit
and will believe on the Son of God. You will lay hold on Christ. You will find yourself by some
strange, unexplainable, irresistible force called grace, believing
on the Son of God. Isn't that what happened? I decided one day I'd start believing.
Now I tried deciding that for a year or two. I really did.
I tried my best to believe. I tried everything I could to
believe. I just kept trying to believe. And then one day, I
saw the Son of God crucified and I looked to Him and found
myself believing. He that seeth the Son hath everlasting
life. Oh God reveal His Son in you
and I bid you then come to Him and live forever. Come to Christ
Oh, come today the Father, Son, and Spirit say, the bride repeats
the call of Christ. He really is all. And now the
blessed ones, to them there's no condemnation, no curse. Because we are accepted of God
in His Son, one with His Son. And now, we lift our hearts to
God. God in heaven, in all his wondrous glory and
majesty, and with no sense of dread or
fear, no sense of banishment where our Father Because we have not received
the spirit of bondage unto death, but the spirit of life and faith
as the sons of God. Oh God grant you that grace. Amen.